Experience (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: Angie has an experienced babysitter when Steve and Catherine have to work late.


**Notes:** Thanks to Mari and Sammy as always for your excitement at a Cody story :-)

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thanks for your amazing support. It is very much appreciated.

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _Experience (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

"Are you sure you're okay?" Steve asked as he came back downstairs, clipping his badge to his belt. "I can call Joseph and Elizabeth, I'm sure they would–"

"No, no, it's fine," Cody interrupted, standing in the living room with Angie and Cammie. "Those concert tickets were hard enough to get as it is. I don't want them to miss out. Angie and I are good here, aren't we?" He looked at the toddler on his hip.

She beamed at the attention. "Co-ee!" she said, bouncing against him.

He smiled and turned back to Steve. "Catherine won't be much longer at the governor's townhall event." He shrugged. "It'll be like our hangouts at work, right, Angie?"

"Co-ee!" she said again, reaching up to grab a hank of his hair. "Hee mai!"

"Okay," Steve said, smiling as Cody smoothly loosened her grip. "Can't say you don't have a ton of experience."

Cody chuckled. "That's definitely true."

"I appreciate it," Steve said. "And I'm sorry our night got cut short. Raincheck?"

"Definitely."

Steve stepped closer and kissed Angie goodbye. "Okay, baby girl, I'm sorry I have to go, but you're gonna have fun with Cody until your mommy gets home."

"Dada," she said, patting his cheek. "Mama doh me nah."

"Yep, Mommy'll be home soon. I love you," he said, giving her one more kiss. He clapped Cody on the arm. "Thanks again, Cody. Call if you need anything, okay?"

Cody nodded. "Sure."

Steve rubbed Cammie's head in farewell and straightened to unlock the front door. He looked back before walking outside.

"Dada," Angie said.

"Can you tell Daddy 'bye'?" Cody asked Angie.

"Bye!" she said, stretching out a hand in her signature wave.

Steve smiled, his reaction immediate and automatic. "Bye." With a final nod, he closed the door behind him.

Cody, hoping to avoid any sign of separation anxiety, shifted his hold on Angie and lifted her up above his head. She squealed in delight.

"Co-ee!"

Bringing her back down slowly, he asked, "What do you wanna do first, Angie? We could go play with your activity wall in the playroom. We could read some books or …"

"Coo-kie!" she cried, pointing toward the kitchen.

"Cookie? We just had dinner."

"Coo-kie! Coo-kie!"

He smiled wryly at her insistence. "Okay, we'll split _one_ cookie, but only 'cause I know there's a few of your grandma's oatmeal chocolate chips in there and those are delicious."

Angie bounced happily against him as she recognized they were headed into the kitchen.

"Ah be mo! Coo-kie!"

"Just one, though," he said firmly.

She blinked at him.

"One," he repeated. "And don't think puppy dog eyes will work on me, either. I've got four younger sisters and brothers, you know. I became immune to puppy dog eyes years ago."

* * *

"Oh, you've got _Brown Bear, Brown Bear_ ," Cody said, pulling out a board book version of the classic title from Angie's wall of bookshelves. "Jacob loved this one. His favorite was the green frog." He started flipping through the book, smiling at the familiar illustrations.

Angie left her activity wall behind and crawled into his lap, grabbing the book out of his hands. She turned the pages until she reached the one she wanted and pointed. "Caa-mee," she said, and smiled at her dog who promptly rose from where she'd been lying and came closer. Angie put out a hand to brush Cammie's fur.

"Doesn't look much like her," Cody said, looking at the white dog in the picture, "but I'm not surprised that's your favorite." He gave Cammie's back an affectionate scratch. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket with an incoming text and shifted to take a look, thinking it might be Catherine telling him she was on her way.

 _ **All good?**_ read the text from Steve.

Cody typed out a quick response.

 _Yep. Reading brown bear brown bear_

 _ **She loves the picture of the dog. Calls her Cammie**_

 _Yeah, she turned right to that page_

 _ **She always does**_

Cody grinned. He knew even without seeing him that Steve was smiling.

 _ **OK - I gotta go. Just wanted to check in**_

 _K. Don't worry about us. We're good_

 _ **I'm not worried. I trust you**_

Cody couldn't help the smile that appeared on his own face at that. He looked down at Angie who was busy showing Cammie the picture of the dog in the book and babbling away to her. Steve trusted him with the most important thing in his life. His daughter.

Pocketing his phone, he reflected on the other part of their brief exchange.

"Your dad knows your favorite page in that book," he said to Angie.

"Caa-mee," Angie said again as if in confirmation, pointing to the illustration and looking up at him.

"I bet my dad didn't know Jacob's favorite picture was the green frog. Or that as soon as we finished reading it the right way he'd ask to read it backwards and laugh the whole time." His smile at that memory faded. "But my dad wasn't a good dad. He wasn't a good anything. Still isn't."

Angie's brow furrowed slightly at his tone, and Cody smiled to reassure her.

"But you don't have to worry about that because I think you've probably got the best dad ever, you know that?"

"Dada," Angie said, smiling at the name.

"Yeah," he said, smiling back softly. "And you know something else? If I'm ever a dad, I hope I'm half as good as yours."

* * *

"How'd the townhall go?" Cody asked Catherine after she arrived home. Angie had immediately run to her and now was happily ensconced in her arms on the sofa.

"Really well," Catherine said, nodding at him where he sat in the armchair beside them. "We had a great turnout and the audience asked a lot of really important questions about the economy and healthcare and education. Lea was able to highlight our successes while also talking about plans for the future."

"That's great," Cody said, pleased. His continued work as an intern in the governor's office meant he had helped prepare for the townhall, and he was genuinely happy it had gone so well.

"Thank you again for staying with Angie."

"I didn't mind," he said. "Everything went fine. No problems at all."

Catherine smiled. "I never had any doubt. I'm just sure you have work you could have been doing for school."

"A little," he admitted. "But I've got time when I get home. It was fun tonight." He smiled at Angie. "And only one dirty diaper."

Catherine chuckled. "Now _that_ I bet you could have done without."

He shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Ah, it comes with the territory."

"That it does," she agreed. "Well, we really appreciated you staying, and I know Angie did, too. We're lucky you were here."

Looking at them, Cody remembered how Catherine had left him alone with Angie when she was just a couple days old. Both Catherine and Steve had trusted him with their daughter then and now without hesitation.

"You had fun with Cody tonight, didn't you, honey?" Catherine asked Angie.

"Co-ee!" Angie cried, pointing at him. "Ah me sha nah le da bah."

"Really?" Catherine said as if she'd understood every word. "All that? You _did_ have fun."

Cody smiled at the easy interaction between mother and daughter, different from Angie's interactions with Steve, but both were so clearly filled with love. He thought back to that first time he'd held Angie and what he'd said then.

"You know, Angie, when you were just born, I told you that you were going to have an amazing life." Both Catherine and Angie looked over at him as he spoke. He smiled at them. "I still believe that. And I'm glad I get to be a part of it."

"Co-ee," Angie said, leaning toward him, arms outstretched.

He readily lifted her into his lap and she wrapped her little arms around his neck in a hug.

Catherine smiled, reaching over to squeeze his arm. "So are we."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Book:  
** _Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?_ by Eric Carle (Henry Holt, 1983)

….

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